Town may be sitting pretty at the League One summit, unbeaten in their first eight games, but goalkeeper Christian Walton has warned they could have a ‘rough ride’ coming up.
With Saturday’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday followed by clashes at Plymouth and at home to Portsmouth, it means the table-topping Blues are set to take on the three sides sitting second, third and fourth behind them.
Whilst agreeing that he and his colleagues are buzzing at the moment, Walton said: "We’ve had a great start but there could be a rough ride along the way. At the minute we’re in a good place and it’s a big game on Saturday at Sheffield Wednesday. We need to go there and perform, doing what we’ve been doing, and I’m sure we can go and put on a good performance there.”
Reflecting on Tuesday’s 2-0 home win over Bristol Rovers, he added: "I was a spectator for large parts of the first half because we were attacking so much before I was called into action. It was really good to watch and the fans got behind us to make it a really tough night for Bristol.”
Despite dominating for so long, Town were almost caught with a couple of sucker punches before half-time, Antony Evans first beating Walton with a shot that sailed over him and crashed back off the woodwork and then pulling off a vital save from Trevor Clarke to deny the visitors an equaliser.
He said: "There were a few big moments in there for me and obviously I had to make sure I was there for those moments. The rest was about being in possession and trying to build from the back by putting into practice what we do, day in and day out, to achieve what the manager wants from us.
"The clean sheets are great and it’s just a case of building on that as we go forward. I believe we are improving all the time and becoming a really good unit, which comes from everyone wanting to learn and taking things on board.
"Yes, first and foremost, the most important thing for me is to keep the ball out of the back of the net. But the other part of the job is in possession and I thought we played some good football. It’s just as pleasing for me to play a part in that.
"At 1-0 you are always looking to get the second goal and to be fair to Bristol they came out and gave it a good go against us. They were always looking for another chance but the second goal obviously helped us and if we had been able to get a third it would have really put the game to bed.”
The game was preceded by a minute’s silence following the death of The Queen and then a rousing rendition of the national anthem, while the 11th minute signalled 60 seconds’ applause in support of former favourite Marcus Stewart, who was last week diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
"It was a really emotional night in many different ways,” added Walton. "There was the tribute to The Queen and with Marcus being such a big part of this club for a long period of time it was emotional for a lot of the fans who remember what he did for Ipswich.
"Sometimes, when there’s something like that before the kick-off, it can hinder how you start the game in the opening few minutes. But we started really strongly and we also finished the game that way.
"It has been a sad time, obviously with The Queen passing away and the news about Marcus. It has touched people at the club because he was such a big player here and there are a lot of fans who remember him fondly.
"It was an emotional night but the atmosphere was great again — 22,000 on a Tuesday night was unbelievable — and especially in this league. I’m sure there will be another massive following at Hillsborough on Saturday and that they will get behind us like they always do. They’ve been really good and especially in my time here.”
Town could be without central defender Cameron Burgess at Hillsborough after he went to hospital for a scan after receiving a blow to the head in Tuesday’s game but Walton is satisfied that the squad strength at Portman Road will see them cope with such setbacks.
He added: "Richard [Keogh] was really good in the EFL Trophy game, showing his experience, and it’s really good for us to have that at the club. Dom [Ball] is also very experienced and he came on against Bristol and did really well.
"He’s been training really well since his injury and it’s good to see him back. It’s competition for places and it’s unfortunate that Cam [Burgess] had to come off with an injury, but when that happens it gives other players opportunities to come in and show what they can do, which they did tonight.”